Thursday, August 23, 2007

Things That Made Me Happy...

in my comics this week.

  • Between the amazing work in redefining (or is it just refining?) Green Arrow's character in Green Arrow Year One and the Black Canary miniseries, I am being won over to admiration of GA. I mean taking the boat that's an escape from horrible torture and death... and burning it? To attract the bad guys? That's the crazy heroism that's the stuff of legend.
  • But I'm still glad that some people-- very very smart people-- question Black Canary on the stupidity of marrying Ollie Queen, rather than everyone in the DCU blindly going, "Oh, a wedding, how lovely! This will be as nice as when the Atom married that cruel, self-centered, psychotic who Eclipso liked so much!"
  • Thank heaven somebody finally called Wonder Girl and Supergirl out on their ridiculously tacky belly-shirts.
  • Piper's "immunity".
  • The very Last of Great Lesbian Love Scenes. Well, for them, anyway.
  • John Rogers needs to be writing Teen Titans. Immediately.
  • So I assume Ranx versus Mogo symbolizes Humanity's Vicious Self-Absorbed Denaturized Urbanism versus Recognizing Our Planet as a Nurturing Guide and Provider That Deserves Our Protection. Either that or it just looked cool to draw.
  • Thanks for the pic of nearly naked pre- or post-coital Deathstroke in bed. No, really! Boxers should be his new uniform.
  • The Mega-Rod versus Charizard.
  • Blue Beetle versus Lobo.
  • "Green Arrow's Secret Healing Factor?" or "Gosh, that minimum six to eight weeks of recovering from an open fracture sped by quickly!"
  • I love this Club of Heroes story Grant Morrison is doing; it's like he's on new meds or something. What a great locked-room mystery, with some ace detective work going on. And the art! Extremely impressive, particularly the composition!
  • I really what to know what has Knockout terrified, since she considers fighting Big Barda a hobby.
  • Black Lightning's "Shut up, ho, this is my chair now; go make me a sammich!" look that he gives Vixen at the JLA meeting.
  • I can never remember the name of Blue Beetle's two sidekicks, but I adore them nonetheless. Paco; the big cute one's name is Paco.
  • Mr. Terrific + U.S. politics + Nazis = Jeez, Mr. Terrific is tall + Wildcat is enormous!
  • No matter how nasty they make Eclipso, it still seems like a demotion for Jean Loring.
  • So ... does that make Ollie's reaction to Roy's problem better or worse? Or simply understandable?
  • Kid Devil made me do a Spit-Take of Amusement. That's pretty rare.
  • Now that I realize that Big Barda would love playing Heroclix, I think I love her, too.
  • Nothing says "I care!" like Kilowogg covered in corpses.
  • We don't always get to say goodbye to the ones we love, do we? In fact, we seldom do. It's a good thing to remember.

37 comments:

  1. There were so MANY things to adore this week! Barda and Pokemon was indeed magnificent.

    And it's Paco and BRENDA! Blue Beetle just keeps getting better and better with each issue.

    Who knew that Ollie was so hardcore? He burned his boat!

    And so on and so forth.

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  2. Sigh. Poor Knockout and Scandal. That really sucked. Barda has made an enemy for the rest of her apparently numbered days.

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  3. no shit, man. there is nothing i can possibly fault blue beetle for as a series thus far. it is simply the perfect comic for DC to be putting out. a non-white-guy legacy hero (but not overbearingly so - i think the alien take on the scarab has been by and large totally successful, and it's great that jaime is developing villains that were made for HIM, instead of inheriting or borrowing someone else's just to boost sales) where it doesn't feel cheap, enough meta-criticism of the super hero world at large, and yet they can throw the titans AND lobo into an issue and keep it feeling fun and natural. and yes, paco and brenda are both total dreamboat supporting cast.

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  4. Tony Bedard is on a roll right now. The Black Canary mini was darn solid, this week's issue of BoP still feels right even without Gail, and he makes Matter-Eater Lawyer punk Lightning Lord.

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  5. Which title had a meeting of the JLA?

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  6. How about Palmerverse insectoids speaking in circa-1980 fanonical Klingon, which obviously causes Zatanna to deduce that they know magic?

    Ok, maybe that was just me that liked that. :)

    Incidentally, it transliterates as "HRINK" and "OUR WAY", which makes me think someone left off an S on (both instances of) the first word...

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  7. The JLA meet in one panel of Countdown.

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  8. I actually didn't buy the JSC because of how Wildcat looked. He looked like Solomon Grundy and a bear had a kid and then they beat it.

    Perhaps that was a rash decision, but I just couldn't take the art.

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  9. Blue Beetle is awesome because he's a classic Marvel character in the DC Universe. Just like Ronnie Raymond Firestorm was.

    Scip loves Marvel! Scip loves Marvel!

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  10. "Thanks for the pic of nearly naked pre- or post-coital Deathstroke in bed. No, really! Boxers should be his new uniform."

    But what was up with Terra in the same panel? It looks like the colorist tried to add clothes with just color, and it didn't work...

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  11. Where were the Deathstroke Boxers sighted?

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  12. Countdown.

    Terra? I didn't notice Terra was in the picture, too...

    Oh, and Gyuss, there's a big difference between what people think classic Marvel comics were like and what they actually were.

    I defy you to read Blue Beetle and compare it to a classic Spider-Man.

    Jamie has an extended and supportive group of family and friends who help with his work, he has the respect of the public and his fellow heroes (despite his youth and comparative inexperience), and, on the whole, enjoys his abilities and the responsibilities they entail. All of this within year or two of his introduction.

    Meanwhile, Spider-Man, some 40+ years later...

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  13. Admiration for Green Arrow,eh? I dunno Scip. Its been very convincingly argued that he's such an innately flawed character that NO amount of writing could possibly fix him!! :-)

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  14. Scip, you really want to go there? I've got a shelf of Ditko Spidey's that I'm constantly in and out of.

    I shall prepare to school you with a blog post later this week.

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  15. I'm thinking of making that "I care!" panel into a Valentine.

    Then all I need to do if find a lady who will accept it in the spirit is was given, and I'll be all set.

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  16. Add me to the ranks that would love a guide (invisi-text or whatever) to the issues in question. For example, this week, I have got to get a look at Deathstroke in boxers. Please, please, please.

    Oh, and thanks to you, I've started in with Heroclix. You wore down my resistence. Bastard.

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  17. I dunno; Green Arrow got one continuity error and one retcon which both made no sense.

    In BoP, Barbara says Connor was Ollie's child with Shado. Nope. Ollie doesn't know about the child he has with her, and Connor's mother was a different person.

    And giving Ollie a retconned in opium habit? WTFOMGBBQ? Weakens Roy's story in multiple ways and wasn't necessary at all.

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  18. "And giving Ollie a retconned in opium habit? WTFOMGBBQ? Weakens Roy's story in multiple ways and wasn't necessary at all."

    Superboyyyyy PUNCH! I wonder if, starting now, Ollie's cranky reaction to Roy's addiction has been toned down a smidge.

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  19. Either that or it just looked cool to draw.

    Well, it was written by an artist. And we know how well you think that works. ;-)

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  20. Ranx vs Mogo symbolizes just another throwaway line from Alan Moore's GLC short story that they're basing this whole crossover on. I am enjoying it but am a little depressed so much has been made out of a 6? 8? page story from 20? years ago.

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  21. Each page of Alan Moore is worth a whole issue by Geoff Johns.

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  22. Can anyone link to the GLC story bad wolf mentions? I've never read that one...I'm curious as to what the throwaway line was.

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  23. It's a story from Green Lantern Corps Annual No. 2, from way back in 1986. It involves Abin Sur visiting a forbidden planet and receiving a prophecy. It also explains why he was in a spaceship when he crashed, since GL's can obviously fly unaided in space. It's also found in the Trade "DC Universe: The stories of Alan Moore"

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  24. Actually, I dug the issue out. I'm about to type the prophecy, so if for any reason you don't want to read it, stop reading now!

    "After untold millennia, the enemies of the Green Lantern Corps will rise united against them. The Corps shall be destroyed to the last life form. The planet Oa shall be as dust. Amongst the gathered foemen shall be numbered the weaponers of Qward, Ranx the sentient city, and the unspeakable Children of the White Lobe. The Empire of Tears finally released from entombment, shall join the assault. Sodam Yat, a Daxamite hailed as the ultimate Green Lantern will perish battle the Lobe-Spawn. The planet-form Green Lantern named Mogo will be last to fall, as Ranx explodes a Blink-Bomb within his core. And after that, there will only be the Demons, dancing in the ruins of Oa to the rhythm of drums bound with taut blue skin."

    There have been a ton of comments in the Sinestro Corps war referencing this prophecy.

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  25. Hey Scip, where are these from:

    Mr. Terrific + U.S. politics + Nazis = Jeez, Mr. Terrific is tall + Wildcat is enormous!

    But I'm still glad that some people-- very very smart people-- question Black Canary on the stupidity of marrying Ollie Queen

    The very Last of Great Lesbian Love Scenes. Well, for them, anyway.

    -- Hector

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  26. Thanks Patrick! Hard to believe it all fits in one tightly-written paragraph, but there's the whole prophecy of Oa. Any players not in place yet? Looking back on the new GL and GLC series it's been a driving force for a while--Guy was fighting Ranx several months ago, if memory serves.

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  27. Mr. Terrific + U.S. politics + Nazis = Jeez, Mr. Terrific is tall + Wildcat is enormous!

    JSA Classified.

    But I'm still glad that some people-- very very smart people-- question Black Canary on the stupidity of marrying Ollie Queen.

    Birds of Prey.

    The very Last of Great Lesbian Love Scenes. Well, for them, anyway.

    Birds of Prey.

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  28. Two other things that just made me giggle, both from Showcase presents Wonder Woman:

    1) The alien drag queen who wants Wonder Woman for her charm bracelet. Her henchman is a big ole leather daddy alien. Cranky, too.

    2) The fact that more happens in any given 5 page Wonder Woman/Wonder Girl story in the Showcase story than has happened in either the new WW title or in Amazons Attack!

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  29. The only thing left from the prophecy is the Empire of Tears being freed.

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  30. You know I was wondering if the Empire of Tears was going to come back. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the big bad behind the Sinestro Coprs (Anti-Minotor not withstanding).

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  31. I still say you should reference what book you're talking about sometimes... I get most of them, but sometimes I think I might be missing out on a good book...

    "Between the amazing work in redefining (or is it just refining?) Green Arrow's character in Green Arrow Year One and the Black Canary miniseries, I am being won over to admiration of GA. I mean taking the boat that's an escape from horrible torture and death... and burning it? To attract the bad guys? That's the crazy heroism that's the stuff of legend."

    Word.

    "John Rogers needs to be writing Teen Titans. Immediately."

    Please.

    "I love this Club of Heroes story Grant Morrison is doing; it's like he's on new meds or something. What a great locked-room mystery, with some ace detective work going on. And the art! Extremely impressive, particularly the composition!"

    The art is amazing, certainly, and the story got a lot better this second issue. I'm still complaining about Gaucho not looking anything like a gaucho in his modern costume, bu rather like a pirate.

    "I can never remember the name of Blue Beetle's two sidekicks, but I adore them nonetheless. Paco; the big cute one's name is Paco."

    They rule, indeed. Paco is the man.

    "Mr. Terrific + U.S. politics + Nazis = Jeez, Mr. Terrific is tall + Wildcat is enormous!"

    Ow, horrible book... Wildcat looks like a furry, and since when did Star Girl have superstrenght?

    "So ... does that make Ollie's reaction to Roy's problem better or worse? Or simply understandable?"

    Worse, completely worse, now that you mention it... and for that, it makes him even more human, because I think he regrets seeing that Roy was as weak as he was.

    Oh, and I loved Matter-Eater Lad this week.

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  32. What are you READING?! I have to know. I've been out of it for a while,(the place I live in doesn't have a comics place) so I really want to know what everyone's in on!

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  33. 1. Green Arrow: Year One
    2. Birds Of Prey
    3. Blue Beetle
    4. Countdown
    5. Birds Of Prey
    6. Blue Beetle
    7. Green Lantern Corps
    8. Countdown
    9. Birds Of Prey
    10. Blue Beetle
    11. Green Arrow: Year One
    12. Batman
    13. Birds Of Prey
    14. Countdown
    15. Blue Beetle
    16. JSA: Classified
    17. Countdown
    18. Green Arrow: Year One
    19. Blue Beetle
    20. Birds Of Prey
    21. Green Lantern Corps
    22. Birds Of Prey

    The book of the week however was, IMO, The Spirit.

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  34. In my experience, no one can be more judgemental of addiction than a "former" addict. Diggle's spin on GA gave the Roy sitch a lot more levels and depth. I dug it. Bedard's already apologized for the screw up re Connor and Shado.

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  35. I'm still wondering what's up with Aquaman in JLA though.

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  36. Magnus: "since when did Star Girl have superstrenght?"

    When she started wearing that bifg red Cosmic Converter Belt, some time in the late 1990s. It sure aint' because it goes with her outfit, but then, what would?

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